Car-brake.



Patented Dec. 11, 1917.

J. M. MILLER.

CAR BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19. |917.

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INNEN-TOR,

n i I serarnsra'rnnr on io JOHN MASON MILLER, or DUNBAR, PENNSYLVANIA.

' CAR-BRAKE.

Dunbar, in the county `of Fayette and State of Pennsylvania, have inventeda new and useful -Car-Brake, of which the following is a specication.

Thisinvention hasreference to car brakes,

and its object is to rprovide 4a means which willautomatically stopand hold carsbeing hauled up gradewhen foranyreason the cars start down grade otherwise uncontrolled.

The invention is particularly applicable to coal and other cars used in mines and on inclines V.where the.v carssometimes break away .and rapidlydescend in theabsence of automaticmeansfor arresting the down run of-"the cars.

The invention comprisesa grip or clutchmember adapted to travel along arail-ofthe .f1-ack alongwhchthecaris: meri-11e, entre Of .Such durch .0r ,grip members my be e111-, ployed on theJtwo rails. The gripmembers arearranged in trailing ,relation to the ear and are connected'together, while wheel-f engaging member for .each grip ,member 1s provided and soarranged that inthe event ofthe Vca r moving rapidlydown grade the wheelfengaging member is actuatedliy y the wheelina manner to twist orturn the member so yas to clamp itself'to the railand thereby hold the car againstifurther downward/progress'. The .grip membersare supported upon runners Vcapable of. `traveling along the tiesoftheltrac'k, soas to support the grip A members, .while yflexible .strands are provided toliold' the parts to theear when th e` car is progressing up grade. and the grip members arein trailingrelation to the car.

rEhe invention lwill Y be best understood l from a consideration of the following. de-

tai-led description, taken -in connection vwith; the accompanying drawings formingp'art of this specification, with the further under standing that while the drawings show' a practical form of the invention, thelatter is not 'conned to anystrictconformity with theshowingof the drawings, but .may be changed and modifiedso long as such changes" and modifications come within the s'cop'e'o'f theappended claims., -In the drawings Y- Figure l is a plan view Ofan embodiment of the invention. L f Fig. 2 ,is an Vend elevation showing' the trackrails in.eros s-section.' l l Fig. a centrallongitudinal section of Y the structure shown in Fig. 1. l Fig. 4 is Va detail view of oneof the gripping members applied to a rail.

` Referringfto the drawings there .are shown vtrack rails'l and .ties 2 constituting a track.`

There is also shown ya beam 3 and'wheels 4 which may be taken as indicative of a car truck.- y. i

The car brake structure V comprises a drag composed of two blocks `5 each with an arm 6 fast thereto, the blocks 5 being formed with `shoes 7 adapted Ato the treads of the wheelsl. The a'rms .6 are joined together near the vends carrying .the blocks 5 by ,a`

cross bar 8 siecured'loylooltsl 9, orin any fotherV suitablemanner, to the arms 6, so thatthe blocks are heldin suchspaced relation that theywillbe vread-ily engaged by or engage thel wheelsl t Aat .the treads thereof. That en d of each arm remote froni' ,the block fis made fastby a bolty 101er otherwise toy one'end .of anotherarm 1 1,`whi'ch.at the lend remote' from the boltV 1Q is' formed `into a grippingor clamping, head12.l The arms 1 1 near the heads l'fare 'joined' by'a bar 13),- thusspaeingthe yheadsV 12 so as to properly span the Etrack.l Each lhead V12 is formed withtwo opposedfjaws 1 4 having lips 15 pos itioned to v,u'nderride' the tread of yavrail 1" 's'pecication o fnealers ment. f Patented nec. 11, 1917. v` Application filed Aprnl'alew. seriaiNo. 163,158. i Y

that V itis :held fastthereto, Thearr'ns l adjacent to the heads 12and the arms Gadjacentto the vblocks 5are yconnected by chains 16,:01' in any other suitable manner limiting vthe movementsof the larlns apart and not .interfering with the movement -of thearmstoward eachother.. The bar 8 is` secured tol the cross beam 3 ,byy chains .17 or other suitable connectionsfserving to draw" not interfering with vthe approach of'v the car tothedrag`v structure in the event ofthe ear backing, as would'be the vcase wherethe, trackstructure is. in trailing.' relation to .the erahnen@ @fisici-.imams agrade and fa the drag structure along with the canbut some reason the car suddenly moves down grade. n

In order to support the arms 6 and 11, shoes 18 are provided. These shoes may be carried by the arms 11 or other parts of the structure, and have rounded extremities 19` so as to readily travel along the ties 2 without interference.

When the car is moving up grade the tendency of the car is to move away from the drag structure. The chains 17 are then taut with their slack taken up, and hence the shoes 7 may be at some little distance from the wheels 4f. Also, the movement of the drag along the rails tends to move the heads 12 away from the shoes 7, whereupon this movement continues until the chains 16 also become taut. Under these conditions Vthe arms 11 travel along'the rails in a position which may be perpendicular to or nearly perpendicular to the length of the rails. lVhen the parts are thus positioned the heads 12 are loose with respect to the rails and out of gripping relation thereto. Suppose thatI for some reason, such as a break# age of connection, the car vshould start down hill when on a grade, the drag being loosely coupled to the car does not participate in the down movement as rapidly as the car and consequently the car wheels engage the shoes 7 and then push these along down hill with the car. r[his causes the arms 6 to move the arms 1l until the jaws 14C engage the sides of the rail, whereupon the head 12 becomes cramped upon the rail, thus 'arresting movement of both the arms 11 and 6 and with the wheels 4 pressing against the shoes 7 the drag becomes securely fast to the rails, thus stopping further down hill movement of the car. The weight of the car only tends to cramp the heads 12 harder against the rails, and hence the car is eectively locked or braked against further movement. When the car starts up hill, or is traveling up hill or along a level, the heads 12 loosen from the rails and the arms 6 and 11, which are in acute angular relation in the holding position of the drag, assume a less acute angular relation, so that the arms 11 are about perpendicular to the rails and the heads 12 are wholly out of grippingrelation to the rails.

Tracks frequently contain guard rails and frogs and in order to avoid interference with such structures the aws 14 have outstanding horns 2() projecting away from the rails, thus enabling the clamp head 12 to be guided up over the guard rails or frogs.

Y 1n inclines or other tracks designed to accommodate coal cars in the coal regions, the space between the rails is sometimes occupied by rollers and other devices. Under such circumstances the runners or'shoes 18 may be otherwise located than as shown in the drawings andthe clamp or cramp heads thus prevent side displacement of the blocks..

Vhat is claimed ist- 1. A car brake comprising a drag ture with means for securing it in trailing relation to the car, said drag structure having rail gripping devices, each in loose straddling yrelation to the tread of the rail, and actuating devices for the rail gripping devices located in the path of the car to beV engaged thereby and move the acute angular gripping devices into gripping relation to the rails on travel of the car toward the drag. l

2. A car brake comprising connected arms each terminating inriaV head in position tov be engaged by a carwh'eel, 'andv other armsy jointed to the first arms and terminating in clamping heads for gripping the tread portions ofrails, connections` between the arms for spacing them with relation to the rails of a' track, and other connections for securing the arms to a car truck.

3. A car brake structure, comprising arms each having an end arranged in the pathv of a car wheel with the arms connected together and spaced apart to be in the path ot respective car wheels, other arms'one forV each of the first-named Varms and joined struc- Y thereto, the second arms being connected Y thereto, the second arms being Yconnected t together and spaced apart similarly tothe Y first-named arms and4 each terminating in a cramping head Vadapted to embrace the tread portion of a respective rail, and flexi-V ble connections between the head portions of the arms and also between the arms and a car truck, the structure also being provided with runners arranged to travel along the ties of a track and support the arms in operative relation to the rails. Y

5. 1n a car brake structure, an arm having at one end means for 'engagement with a; 13@

'car wheel, another arm'jointed to the first arm and provided with a headv having jaws for straddling and cramping the tread portion of a rail, and means for connecting the jointed arms to a car truck with the head of the rst-named arm in position to be engaged by a car Wheel. v

6. In a car brake structure, a jointed rail gripping member having means for conneeting it to a car, with the gripping portion of the gripping means in the form of a head with opposed jaws for engaging opposite sides of the tread portion of the rail, the jaws having outstanding horns for engaging parts of the track in the path Iof the head and lifting the latter over said parts.

7. In a car brake, a jointed gripping structure having one end provided with a gripping head adapted to engage and grip a rail, and supporting shoes for the gripping structure positioned withA relation to said gripping structure to travel upon the ties of a track and uphold the gripping structure in operative relation with the rails of the track.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aHiXed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

v JOHN MASON MILLER.

Witnesses GEORGE GOUKER, MATTEO RUGGIERI.

copies of this patent may be obtained yfor ve cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner ot Patenti, Washington, D. 0. 

